The team deciding how the incoming administration will carry out the new law is led by Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an industry-funded front group that has consistently downplayed the risks toxic chemicals pose, Benesh said. The front group's so-called experts call chemicals posing serious health hazards safe – including arsenic, mercury, phthalates, and formaldehyde.

“If people like Ebell, who isn’t a scientist, are put in charge of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, there’s no telling how the science will be twisted to serve the chemical industry,” said Benesh, writing on the EWG’s blog. “And if the EPA gets it wrong with these first 10 chemicals, there could be serious consequences.”

The first 10 chemicals, many of which are found in consumer products and have been linked to cancer, to be evaluated are: